Robots are becoming cheaper to make and more powerful because of AI. In the climate tech space, they’re already laying transmission lines, inspecting wind turbines, and installing solar panels.. And with labor productivity stagnating, immigration restrictions tightening, and the cost of labor rising, they’re looking even more appealing. 

So where might robotics have the biggest impact on climate tech?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Andy Lubershane, a partner and head of research at Energy Impact Partners (where he’s a colleague of Shayle). Andy also recently wrote a blog post on the effects of autonomy across climate tech. They cover topics like:

• How more affordable parts and better foundation models are making robotics cheaper
• The high CapEx and low OpEx that make automation expensive to start, but valuable with high utilization
• Robotics-as-a-service companies that help to overcome these initial CapEx challenges
• The most promising applications, like manufacturing, construction, and maintenance
• The hopes for more humanoid general-purpose robots — and the challenges in making them

Recommended resources

Steel for Fuel: Autonomy is real now

SemiAnalysis: America Is Missing The New Labor Economy – Robotics Part 1

Steel for Fuel: From SaaS to Robots

F-Prime Capital: State of Robotics

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor.

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